Denarius

: dēnāriī, Latin: [deːˈnaːriiː]) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War c. 211 BC[1] to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus.

[note 1] The word for "money" descends from it in Italian (denaro), Slovene (denar), Portuguese (dinheiro), and Spanish (dinero).

Its symbol is represented in Unicode as 𐆖 (U+10196), a numeral monogram that appeared on the obverse in the Republican period, denoting the 10 asses ("X") to 1 denarius ("I") conversion rate.

A predecessor of the denarius was first struck in 269 or 268 BC, five years before the First Punic War,[3] with an average weight of 6.81 grams, or 1⁄48 of a Roman pound.

This predecessor of the denarius was a Greek-styled silver coin of didrachm weight, which was struck in Neapolis and other Greek cities in southern Italy.

[5] Classical historians have sometimes called these coins "heavy denarii", but they are classified by modern numismatists as quadrigati, a term which survives in one or two ancient texts and is derived from the quadriga, or four-horse chariot, on the reverse.

This, with a two-horse chariot or biga which was used as a reverse type for some early denarii, was the prototype for the most common designs used on Roman silver coins for a number of years.

[6][7][8] Rome overhauled its coinage shortly before 211 BC, and introduced the denarius alongside a short-lived denomination called the victoriatus.

[17] Expressed in terms of the price of silver, and assuming 0.999 purity, a 1⁄10 troy ounce denarius had a precious metal value of around US$2.60 in 2021.

[21] The coins of Eppillus, issued around Calleva Atrebatum around the same time, appear to have derived design elements from various denarii, such as those of Augustus and M.

The Arabs who conquered large parts of the land that once belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire issued their own gold dinar.

The Render unto Caesar passage in Matthew 22:15–22 and Mark 12:13–17 uses the word (δηνάριον) to describe the coin held up by Jesus, translated in the King James Bible as "tribute penny".